Just Three
by DreamerChick
Summary: I'm demented. Ice Age is a family comedy, and I turned it into..this. Starts out like everyother Diego meets Tigress fic but has a twist. It's darker then the darkest chocalte. You have been warned.
1. Just Three

Just Three.  
  
A/N: It's been done to death, I know, but I love Denis Leary, and he voiced everyone's fave bad turned good saber-tooth tiger, Diego, so I add to the ranks of Diego meeting a tigress and falling in love stories already here. I love bad boys with good souls, so why should I not love bad sabertooth tigers w/good souls too?   
  
Manny and Sid are here, but not much, b/c I can't get there personalities across as good, not being as familiar with their Voice Artist work and acts, so they are harder to write.   
  
I disclaim, very sadly, Diego, and slightly less so, but still sadly, Manny and Sid.   
  
Topaz and Daz are mine, even though they have lame names. I can't name saber-tooth tigers,never had an opportunity to before  
  
Plot, mine, I guess.   
  
No food, no shelter, not a thing. Topaz mentally kicked her self for leaving her pack, but it had to be done, she would have died where they were. She missed her home land but humans were rapidly coming, and Topaz wasn't fast enough to out run them, strong enough to take any down, and basically useless to a pack. She'd been a runt, lucky to survive as long as she did, and with each passing season she grew more sure of the fact that she had few left. But she wouldn't burden a pack, so she decided to head south. That had been two seasons ago. Topaz, with her bright red fur, and sharp, deep green eyes, and less then healthy frame, looked much younger than she was, though her mind was sharper than most her age. She started walking again, each step painfully slower than the last. She'd been too long with out food, nothing weaker than her to easily take down had been around for days. She'd planned to die alone, and was pretty sure she was going to do just that, as she took a step or two more, then lay down in the snow.  
  
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"Sid, shut up" Diego hadn't even heard what the little sloth, who was surprisingly talkative for his species, had been blabbering on about for miles, but he'd had enough of whatever it was.   
  
"Why?" Sid had to have a reason.  
  
"You give me a headache, plain and simple. Just shut up,for a little while,okay?" Diego tried to be polite and like a herd member would be, a skill he'd be working on, along with honesty, which didn't always go hand in hand.   
  
Sid obliged, perched on Manny's back. Manny'd been about to chuck the sloth himself, so he was glad Diego had said something. They walked on further, Diego looking for meat, Sid and Manny for a place to rest with some trees or plants. Diego suddenly got a look in his eyes, as he spotted something lying in the snow, a little ways off. He took off for it, not as fast as he had been once, but still with speed.   
  
** This is too good** He thought** It's not even moving, easy kill**. When he reached it he stopped. It was saber-tooth tigress, and obviously weak. He should've killed her, she was too weak to survive, her breathing was shallow, and she was scrawny, but her fur was well kept and so red, more red than most of the saber tooth tigers he'd encountered ever. Something in him couldn't kill her, for anything, so he nudged her awake. She looked at him with eyes a deep green. "Come with me." He whispered gently. She opened her mouth to protest, but didn't have the strength, so she obliged.  
  
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When she'd first opened her eyes, Topaz had hoped she'd died and this was the afterlife. But no, she was alive, and following the tiger that had either rescued her, or prolonged her misery. When they arrived, she blinked her eyes in disbelief. She was dead. This was some kind of crazy herd of animals that had died in the same place, but this was not the, she hated to admit it but, handsome tiger's pack. A woolly mammoth and a sloth? With a saber tooth? She collapsed then and there. When she awoke, knowing that she was indeed alive, since it was impossible to die twice, there was the meat of some small animal near her and her rescuer near another. "All yours. Easier to take down two small animals, since they are more abundant. Plus, that ought to get someone like you back on their feet with out making you sick, since you are so weak" His tone was as slightly rougher than before but still caring. Topaz, grateful though she was, had to defend her honor, save face, not give in and become a burden.   
  
" No. I can't. You should have done away with me back there. I'm weak and useless, was the runt who got lucky and lived a few years. I'd be a burden, and that's why I left my pack two seasons ago. I have about three seasons left on me, if I'm lucky. Just leave me. I want to die in peace, alone!" Though her body was weak, her voice and opinions were strong, and that was something she took pride in. Though, she had to admit, that meat smelled wonderful. She almost gave in and took a bite, but her will to die was to strong.   
  
"Just go!" She stated once again, getting angrier by the second.   
  
"Maybe we should leave, come on guys," Sid nervously looked at Topaz, who could quite possibly take him down, if she got any madder, at least in his eyes.  
  
"Yeah, just leave her Diego." Manny hated to say it, but he hated to see Diego get feelings for this tigress, then have her die and Diego get hurt .Manny had a sharp intuition, which came from being so silent and saying only what was absolutely necessary and he was certain this tigress wouldn't last much longer.  
  
Diego, a loner for so long, finally felt, could it be, love? He knew what the tigress had said was true, she'd die shortly, but he loved her, plain and simple. He had his pack now, with Manny and Sid, but he wanted a mate. Maybe, if he could get her strength up, and her will to live up, she'd survive. He knew an angry and sick tigress was trouble, but he had to try, the only way he knew how, tough love.   
  
"Fine, we'll leave. Leave you to die, when all you have to do is eat something and you'll make it. But if you don't have the will to do that, then you *should* die. I don't know your name, but whoever you are, no matter how tough it's been, being the runt of a pack, you could've made it. It's a shame, a tigress as beautiful, and determined as you, left to die in the middle of nowhere, with no one to remember you."   
  
Topaz looked up. Those sharp green eyes had so much passion, that she felt she had to answer them.   
  
"Topaz" She said, as Diego was turning around.   
  
"What?" He asked, knowing that his plan had worked.   
  
" My name. It's Topaz. It's odd, since I'm so red, but as a cub, no one thought I'd make it, so they named me based on the color of my fur then, so when our pack held a celebration of all the new cubs, they would have a name to remember with those that hadn't made it."  
  
"Well Topaz, I'm Diego,and that's Sid and Manny." With that Diego turned toward her, as Sid and Manny politely left, to let the male and female saber tooths be, well, male and female saber tooths.  
  
"Thank you" Topaz said, getting up.  
  
"For what?" Diego looked into her deep eyes, trying to see if she was looking at him too or at the meat.  
  
"For everything. For rescuing me back there, for the food, and for helping me come to my senses. I shouldn't try to die before my time. And thank you for calling me beautiful. Not delicate, or dainty, but beautiful." Topaz's eyes shone with tears she hadn't cried for a long time.  
  
"No problem. I'd rather eat smaller animals anyhow, with Manny and Sid around, I don't have to feel so bad about being a carnivore. And you are beautiful, you just needed to see that, and see that you had some time left. It may be limited, but don't waste it. And here, in this pack, we help each other out. You have to have some strength to hunt, making it on your own for two seasons, so you can take down small,small animals for like snacks."  
  
"Thank you again. And I should return the compliment. You're rather handsome yourself." Topaz blushed as she said this, or so Diego thought, it was hard to tell with her bright red fur.   
  
Diego nuzzled her face for a moment before saying, "You should eat. I'll go get the mammoth and the idiot."   
  
Topaz smiled and waited until Diego had turned around to devour the animal carcass before her.   
  
By the time Manny and Sid returned, Topaz had finished her meal and was licking her paws clean.   
  
"Manfred, Sid, meet the newest member of the strangest pack ever to walk the Earth. This is Topaz"   
  
Topaz nodded in greeting. Sid immediately hid behind Manny. Manny looked at Topaz and nodded, though he wasn't so sure he liked the idea of a new saber tooth. The pack had beauty in the idea of one of each kind of animal, and the new addition would change that. That made Manny uneasy.   
  
  
  
Two things become abundantly clear as the seasons started to head toward mating season. Diego and Topaz would most definitely be blessed with a cub or two, and Topaz wouldn't live much past that. She carried herself more cheerfully now, but her eyes were losing their sparkle and gaining a shadow of pain.   
  
One night, only a little away from mating season, Diego and Topaz couldn't sleep.   
  
"Diego?" Topaz whispered, not wanting to wake Manny and Sid.  
  
"Yeah?" Diego dreaded this, he knew what was on her mind. All that was on Topaz's mind any more was her death and them mating.   
  
"Should we really...ya know...I'm not sure I could even carry cubs. I just don't know." Topaz was so ernest about this that Diego nuzzled her face to comfort her before saying softly, "We don't have to. We love each other either way."   
  
" I know. But maybe, that's my destiny, to have a cub. I had to have something to hold on to all those years. I'm just being selfish. You deserve a cub. But what if something happens to him/her too? Then you'd be alone again."   
  
" I wouldn't. I'd still have Manny and Sid. But you won't die. How sure were you that you'd die when I found you? Look how long you made it." Diego was trying to keep up his strong front, but he was losing.   
  
" I love you and how optimistic you are on this. Stop fooling yourself though. My time is limited. And that's why I have to do this. You deserve a cub, and I do want to be remembered somehow." Topaz was weak physically, which made her strong love shine through even more. And that's what Diego needed.   
  
" I love you, so much." He whispered before losing all control. The two saber tooth's shared each other's pain and tears.  
  
In what seemed like no time, Diego and Topaz secluded themselves as best they could and didn't emerge until they were ready to introduce the world to Daz. Like his name he was a perfect blend of his parents. He was small but healthy, had beautiful red-orange fur, and his eyes were as big as his mother's but a paler green, closer to Diego's.   
  
Presenting Daz should've been joyous, but it was bittersweet. Topaz was more weak now than ever before. She moved almost never, and when she did, each movement made her wince. She slept most of the time, only stirring for a few bites of food or to take care of Daz. It was like she was holding on until he could fend for himself. Diego sensed this, and as soon as Daz could run a bit and stay sure on his feet, he tried to teach his son hunting. He'd wanted Daz to learn quickly, Topaz was suffering so badly, but he hadn't expected it to be quite as soon as it was. One night, when the fireball that was their son had finally gone to sleep, Diego nudged Topaz out of her thoughts.   
  
"He caught something for himself today."   
  
Topaz smiled weakly. " Good. He can survive without me now."   
  
"No. No! Please, no. He can't. *I* can't. Don't let go just yet. Please, stay with me." Diego was almost crying.  
  
Topaz just gazed at him, eyes full of so many messages that she hadn't the strength to say, but mostly love. Love for Diego, for Daz, for Manny and even Sid. She placed her head on Diego. She lay there for a few minutes, each breath fainter than the last. With each breath, Diego tried to brace himself, but he wasn't nearly prepared for her last breath. The coldness that quickly set in Topaz's body was nothing compared to the cold feeling that sat in Diego's heart.  
  
Crying didn't seem like enough, but there was not much else he could do. Diego, strong, independent, arrogant Diego, broke down and cried. He tried to be quiet, but Manny woke up anyway.  
  
"Diego?" The mammoth whispered.   
  
"She's gone,Manny, gone." Diego tried to slow his tears, but to no avail. Manny moved Topaz's body off of Diego, then went back to bed. Manny knew how important Diego's pride was and anything other than that would be uncomfortable, once the grief subsided enough for Diego to get his pride back.   
  
The morning after that would prove to be decidedly tougher, emotionally and physically. Sid was unusually quiet, after a few simple but kind words of condolence, that had gotten a sad smile out of Diego.   
  
Diego decided to explain what had happened to Topaz to Daz during their hunt. He never got that far. Daz went off on his own, while Diego paced a little away, trying to figure out what to say. It all was a blur. Diego heard the sounds of a cub falling and smelled the blood and knew he was alone again. He sank down in the snow and tried to sleep, determined to never wake up or wake up and have it all have been a nightmare. Manny woke him out of his stupor.  
  
" I guess you know we are on top of a rough,rocky gulch and I guess you know what happened." Manny looked at the tiger's red rimmed eyes, and wished he were better at breaking bad news.  
  
"How do you do it, Manny. You lost a family. How do you do it?" Diego looked and sounded like a lost cub.   
  
"You move on. You grieve, you pick up, you never forget, and you move on. It's tough, and you'll think about them everyday, but you have to just move on. They're waiting for you in the Great Beyond, you just can't get there before it is meant to be." Manny touched Diego lightly on the shoulder with his trunk.   
  
" Why? Why couldn't *he* have lived. Topaz was going to die, that was certain.But Daz?" Diego had many questions.  
  
" It wasn't meant to be. We are a pack of one mammoth,one sloth, and *one* sabertooth tiger. No more, no less of any. Now we need to move soon, a storm is coming. We need to keep going south, and before much longer." Manny tried to change the subject a little.  
  
" I can't just leave their bodies here. I have to do something." Diego knew he should leave,but the pain was too sharp.   
  
"There are some nice flowers over there. Sid and I will help you spread them, but we need to go. Just move on."   
  
Diego nodded, and somehow, with Sid and Manny's help,manged to spread flowers on his mate's body. He had Manny spread the flowers over the gulch, he couldn't look just yet. Sid and Manny gave Diego a few days to grieve, though they knew he needed more,they just didn't have time.  
  
A few mornings down the road, Manny called to Diego, who had finally gotten a decent sleep with only a few awakenings from painful dreams compared to the first two nights  
  
when he hadn't slept any for dreams and tears.  
  
"We need to go."   
  
"Just give me a few minutes. I need to say my good-byes. Diego walked to where Topaz's now starting to decay body was, a few miles back.   
  
"I'll never forget you, but I need to move on. I know you understand." And Diego did know. Topaz's soft voice seemed to be telling him to move on.   
  
Finally ready to face the gulch, Diego sat down near the edge, looked over, then prayed for the young cub that he hadn't been meant to father for long.   
  
Slowly, he got up, and started to catch up to Manny and Sid. They were all he had now, and he knew now, that's how many there were supposed to be in his pack. Just three. 


	2. Epilogue

A/N: I don't do this much, but I needed a little addendum to this fic. An epilogue seemed fitting.   
I swear, I have a heart, I just read a lot and can see the darker side of life. And this was so hard to write,I had to stop many times until I was home so I wouldn't cry  
Just bear with me as I finish this and then, I swear, I have a happier fic in my mind. I can only be bitter for so long.   
This is just a little epilogue from Diego's POV. Just bear with me and remember Diego is feeling lost and confused right now, his thoughts will be jumbled and go back and forth from angry to miserable, to almost suicidal to accepting.   
  
I've never loved anybody before. Not really. I respected Soto before I left, I guess I loved my parents, though I hardly remember them, and I love Manny and Sid like brothers, but never the kind of love I felt for Topaz. Never the kind of love like I saw in her eyes.  
Now she's gone. I felt every breath she took last night, and that last breath,that almost killed *me*. The only thing that keeps me going is Daz. A perfect mix of us. He's wandering a little away right now, I'm not sure how to break the news to him. I don't think there is anything that could hurt him. I watch Manny and Sid , who I know are watching me. They don't know what to say. Sid tried this morning, and it *did* help, a little. Not much, but it made me smile, and see what I have......no, no, No! It isn't, it can't be. I know that sound though, and I know that smell. It's the sound of a cub falling, and the smell of blood. My son's blood. I do the only thing I can do. I lay down in the snow and c lose my eyes. When I open them this whole thing will have been a dream or I'll be dead, right? Wrong. Manfred wakes me up to tell me what happened. I knew all along. I turn to Manny for help. He's lost a family before. He can help me. Move on? That's the only advice he can give me? Move on? Grieve them and never forget them, but pick up and just move on? I can't, not just yet. So what if a storm is coming? I don't care Just let me die,here, near my mate and my son. Just please, whoever decided it would be a good idea, let me go too. Pride be damned. I need to die, to be with them. What do I have to live for now? Manny forces me to move about a mile away, since the bodies will soon decay. I can't do that until I've said some kind of goodbye though. Manny and Sid help me spread a few flowers around Topaz, but Manny has to spread them down the gulch, I can't see that, not yet. Plus, I'm not sure I won't be tempted to jump off that myself.   
Night fall. I can't sleep. Everything keeps coming back to me. Horrible images. Manny says we still have a few days before we have to move, but he wants me to sleep, so I can carry on. I try but I wake up sobbing. It's an eerie quiet around here. Sid and Manny whisper between them, and say as little as possible to me. I know I have to move on though, because if I don't of my own freewill, I know Manny won't hesitate to place me on his back and move me. So I have to sleep tonight. I have to put away all my thoughts and sleep. Damn it! That look in her eyes before she closed them for the last time. It will haunt me forever. If I let it. But can I stop it? For two days, I've done nothing, and I intend to move on tomorrow. Can I do that? I need to eat, to move, to function. Function. As hard as that will be, that is the most critical. I must move just being to doing. Then, when the time is right, I'll move on to living again. I can't hunt so close to their bodies, so I must sleep tonight, so I'll be ready to move on with Sid and Manny. Ready to say my final goodbyes. Ready to face the gluch. Finally, a morning comes were I haven't been visited by overwhelming images. Manny calls to me that we are leaving. I yell back that I have to say my goodbyes. I walk back the mile to were my mates body is. I fell her presence and look around. Wistful thinking. But I do hear her voice. She's telling me to move on. That it's okay. All I needed. Her reassurance, though I'm sure it was just a fantasy. I creep my way to the edge of the gulch. I look down. The smell of blood is starting to fade, and I don't see the body. It's either been destroyed by vultures and other scavnegers, or it's too far down to see. I pray it's the second option. Manny calls to me again, and I head back to my pack. Just three. That's what it was always meant to be. Me. the mammoth, and the sloth. No more, no less. I don't have to like it, but, some day, some how, I can learn to accept it.   
A/N: Now that that is out of my system, I can focus on happier things.I have a much lighter piece in the works for our boys. All I will say about that is that I should put it up soon after Thanksgiving, if things work out for me. ^____^   



End file.
